Awakening Guardians
by Rain-Storm-Alchemist
Summary: When Mustang's team get transferred to the SCG, everything is not as it seems. The new Alchemists are bearing some dark secrets and dark pasts... Unfortunately, history has a nasty habit of repeating itself... especially when the Elric's are involved.
1. Chapter 1

_Awakening Guardians _

_This fic should be updated once a week or once every two weeks, however it depends on my school work. I'm in Australia so I don't get three months off like other countries. It also depends on my school assignments, parents and exams. _

_I'm doing this to get better at English and story writing; I don't get any other sort of profit from this _

_I don't know where this story will go, I might hit a block, or I might not. I might even ask you people to help me. _

_Please tell me if my characters are too OOC, I'm still not happy with General Hammond; I can fix it if you have any suggestions for text, grammar or plot._

_The chapter will have no set length, only over 2000 words._

_No flames, but constructive criticism is needed._

_THIS IS AN AU FIC! (__A__lternate __U__niverse fic)_

_Title my change_

-=-=-=-=-= notes on the fan fic-=-=-=

_Please read..._

-This is an AU fic, Hughes is alive, -didn't have the heart to kill him.

-Mustang has only one Seeing Eye (his right), this is a fan fic after all, and you could say that the stone didn't have enough power to totally heal his sight.

-Amestris is only behind the rest of the world; this fic will take place in the SG time zone (1990-2005) not 1915-1920.

-Al has his body back; Ed got it back from the Gate, still haven't decided if that will have any side effects.

-Ed still has his alchemy, I really don't care what you guy come up with, but for the moment let's just say the Gate let him keep it.

-For those of you who don't know the Gate and the Stargate are completely different! If you have not seen fma, I suggest you watch or google it before you start reading this fic

I will remind you THIS IS AN AU fic for BOTH crossovers! It will not follow the SG1 story line completely and is a mix of BOTH fma animes. (2003-2005 and 2009-2010)

I do not own SG1 or FMA

Editor - HiraHayami-chan, she's a great person guys!

Enjoy

_Awakening Guardians_

-=-=-=chapter one-=-==-

As General Hammond walked down the main street of Amestris' home capital of Central, he started to have second thoughts of even going through with this so-called _"peaceful exchange"_ of military intelligence and personnel.

It had all started just before the Goa'ulds' very first _almost_ attack on earth six months ago. American diplomatic intelligence had alerted the SGC and American government that a small team of Amestrian military 'scientists' and 'archaeologists' had discovered a form knowledge apparently associated to the Stargate. However, due to the Goa'uld -and SG1, all investigations concerning Amestris were put on hold until further notice.

It wasn't until a month ago that the American government had picked up the investigation again. Both governments had discussed a treaty and an exchange. The Amestrian military personnel team responsible for finding the information on the Stargate will be evaluated and then possibly transferred to the SGC, _IF_ they were of SGC standard. Names had been covered up by the Amestrian government, making it impossible for even the president of the US to find out who discovered this information, not even General Hammond knew who he was meant to be meeting

The American president and higher ups had given General Hammond the task of investigating the Amestrian military 'scientists' _slash '_archaeologists'. Hammond ordered Colonel Jack O'Neill as acting commander of the SGC, along with Major Samantha Carter as an 'assistant' commander. The Major was placed as O'Neill's assistant to make sure the Colonel kept out of trouble and to stop him from doing anything stupid or out of the ordinary. Hammond had also asked Doctor Frasier if she could keep an eye on the temporary commander and his acting assistant commander.

And now, after series of very, very long and tedious flights from America to London, then from London to Amestris, General Hammond found himself being escorted down the Main Street to Amestris' Military HQ. Right now the General could only hope that this wasn't a waste of time, and pray to every god and false god in the universe that SG1 would not destroy the SGC in the short time he was away.

"Sir, we are almost there." The female black haired officer said, snapping Hammond out of his gloomy thoughts.

"Thank you, First Lieutenant..." The General stopped and looked at the black haired escort with uncertainty.

"Ross, sir." She supplied with a small smile.

Hammond nodded thanks, and was just about to ask the location of 'Major General' Mustang's office, when...

**BBBOOOOOOMMMMMM! **

A massive mushroom cloud of fire and smoke rose from the very direction General Hammond was walking to. Needless to say, the General almost jumped out of his skin and was about to run or call the police or even the SGC, until he heard the First Lieutenant Ross give a small sigh.

"Oh great, those two are at it again..." The young lieutenant said in dismay, eyeing the cloud.

"W-what… the HELL was that?" General Hammond yelled, gaping and pointing at the now dispersing cloud of gasses.

"Sorry about this, they must have forgotten that a VIP was coming... or someone forgot to remind them." The First Lieutenant said, looking truly apologetic.

Looking around, the General noticed that no one on the street was panicking; civilians just walked along doing their daily things. A few small children where pointing at where the mushroom cloud had been just moments before.

"Look mummy, look! Mister Full-Metal must be in Central again!" A young girl said, pointing to the sky and tugging at her mother's hand.

"Your right dear, looks like Mister Flame and Mister Full-Metal be arguing again... I wonder what it's over this time." The mother said smiling and laughing with her young daughter before walking off.

"General Sir, I assure you there is nothing to be afraid of." First Lieutenant said and saluted.

"NOTHING?... First Lieutenant, it didn't look like _nothing_ to me."General Hammond yelled.

"All will be explained when you get there, sir." First Lieutenant Ross said, and continued to walk down the main street.

General Hammond had no choice but to follow, after all, he was in an unknown country with limited money and very little knowledge about the city and the people… that's if these _people_ where even human.

He just wished he knew what he was getting himself and the SGC into.

-=-=-=-Fic break up! XD-=-=-=-

The trip to Central HQ hadn't taken much longer, as General Hammond and First Lieutenant Ross approached the massive gray building, the explosions seemed to get louder and more powerful. However it wasn't only the flames General Hammond was worried about, a series of what could have been numerous earthquakes almost shook the ground as the pair advanced. There also seemed to be yelling, however it was too distorted to hear what the yeller was yelling about.

Instead of leading the General in to the massive front doors of HQ, Ross led General Hammond around the back, where most military bases have social events and military parades. This ground, however didn't look as if it was going to be used anytime soon, everything from chasms half the size of the Grand Canyon to spikes as tall as ten meters, littered the once flat ground. In the middle, there were two moving human shaped silhouettes, one was definitely an adult and the other fitted a small teen's or a child's frame. Smoke and dust clouded the air, making it near impossible to see and the atmosphere was heavy and smelt a lot like o-zone.

"Yo! First Lieutenant Ross and... Oh, hey General, fancy seeing you here!" A cheery voice called.

A man in his early thirties, with short black hair and square shaped glasses covering intelligent acid green eyes, slowly walked up to General Hammond and the First Lieutenant. He was dressed in the same blue uniform as the First Lieutenant was dressed in.

"Brigadier General Hughes, sir." Ross saluted, Hughes saluted back.

"Dismissed, First Lieutenant Ross" Hughes said in an official voice as he saluted.

Ross nodded sharply. Gave a concerned glance at the once level parade grounds and walked off the way the pair had previously come from.

"General Hammond sir, I am Brigadier General Maes Hughes, I work in the investigations department." The Brigadier General said as he saluted.

"What is going on here Brigadier General?" Hammond was using every bit of self control not to lose control and go off on a shouting rant at the young Brigadier General.

He had never seen anything like this before, not even in the SGC. Sure he had seen SG1 do some crazy stunts before. But nothing anything like this, they had never blow anything up at the_ home base _on _purpose_.

Hughes just laughed. "You didn't read up on Amestris before you came here did you?"

Before Hammond could answer another mushroom cloud explosion suddenly filled the sky and the earth shook violently from another quake.

"With all due respect, sir, that is not the way you speak to a VIP." A strict female voice said from behind George.

Hammond jumped slightly; he hadn't even heard her walk up. The woman was dressed in the Amestrian military uniform. She had blond hair, which was clipped back tightly and strict, but calm brown eyes, there was one visible gun holder, equipped with a Military issued pistol. Hammond noticed a small black and white dog trotting a few yard behind her.

"Aww come on Hawkeye! Oh, I know what will cheer you up!" Hughes exclaimed with sudden enthusiasm.

Not even two seconds passed before General Hammond found picture of a small girl with green eyes and brown hair shoved in his face.

"This is my daughter Elicia, she just turned five, isn't she just adorable?" Hughes swooned as she shoved yet another photo in Hammond's face.

The black haired, green eyed Brigadier General then proceed to show the General more and more pictures, before...

**Bang, bang bang!**

"With all due respect Brigadier General Hughes, but I think it would be wise if our VIP met with Fullmetal, Major General Mustang and Major Elric. He does not have time to look at the pictures of you daughter, sir." The blond haired, brown eyed women named Hawkeye said, after _firing _several roundsat her _superior_ officer.

What was even scarier was that the General hadn't even seen the women lay a finger on her military issued pistol or even get angry. Just what was wrong with these people?

Hughes gulped and shivered slightly and replied with a shakily "R-right."

"Brigadier General, Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye!" A young voice yelled from the same direction Hammond had formerly come.

All four turned to see a young teen running towards the group; he was wearing a long red coat, black pants and button up long sleeved top. He had... golden eyes, how strange...and long golden hair which was tied up with a band. Hammond saw Hawkeyes' eyes suddenly take on a softer feel as the small, thin teen ran up from the side of HQ. The teen skidded to a sudden stop in front of the group, gasping for air as if he had just run a marathon.

Hammond noticed the strange symbol on the teen's red jacket, it was a snake entwined around a cross with a pair of wings and a crown on top. Doctor Jackson would have had a field day if he was here instead of the brief trip to Egypt.

"S... sorry... (Pant) I came... here... as (pant) ... fast as (pant) I... could" the teen gasped out, his hands pressed to his knees.

"Major Elric, this is General Hammond from America. He's here to talk to you, Fullmetal and the Flame about-" Hughes suddenly got cut off by the young Major.

"That thing we found in Xerxes... Right...?" Major Elric finished.

Hughes nodded, his eyes darkened slightly. Hammond could see pity and sorrow clouding his eyes briefly as he glanced at the young Major. What was that about?

Major Elric turned to General Hammond and saluted.

"General Hammond, my name is Major Alphonse Elric, most people call me Al. It's nice to meet you." Major Elric said in a polite tone.

Another shock from what could have been an earthquake shook the ground again, but the General hardly noticed it.

"Brigadier General Hughes... what... what is this? You people let a _child_ into the military?" Hammond stuttered eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at the young Major.

How could a kid, no older than sixteen be a Major? What the hell was this government thinking? Letting kids in to the military? Did they WANT a sixteen year old too shoot and kill? To go through a war as if it was hell?

"Like it is General, you can't judge people on their age. We've seen and done more than most high ranking offices will ever see in a life time." Major Elric said looking General Hammond straight in the eye.

Hughes sighed, "Al… the General didn't read up on this country- mind you, most of the military info, in and out has been monitored lately... Maybe you could show General Hammond what the travel books missed out. Stopping Fullmetal and Flame in their little brawl might help to move things along."

Al sighed and looked over to what use to be the parade grounds. His brother and Mustang where out of sight and nothing was blowing up, that usually indicated that the fight had turned close range. These fights were becoming more and more common lately, not even the Fuhrer bothered to come out. In his eyes, as long as the mess got cleat up and the work got done, he didn't care. Hawkeye on the other hand, was starting to get irritated by these random fights.

"What are they fighting over this time?" Al asked, turning to General Hammond, Hughes and Hawkeye.

"To be honest... I have no idea." Hughes said shrugging.

"I believe it was over a report." Hawkeye said in her no-nonsense tone.

"Again!" Al asked in disbelief. "How long have they been out here?"

"Over two hours, I tried to get them in well over an hour ago, but they were too caught up in fighting that I couldn't get a clear shot at them" Hawkeye replied.

Al sighed. Of course Hawkeye had tried to shoot at them... too bad his brother and Mustang were too caught up in the fight to notice.

"Oh! I know what will motivate you to stop those two!" Hughes exclaimed as he rummaged around in his top pocket.

"Fine, but Hawkeye needs to come with me." Al said quickly before he became one of Hughes' photo victims.

"And whys that?" Hughes asked, looking at the photo lovingly before carefully placing it back in his top pocket.

"Both of them are scared of her." Al said like it was worldwide know fact.

"Very well, Major Elric. Black Hayate, stay." Hawkeye ordered.

The black and white dog gave a quick back, and with this, Al and Hawkeye then walked off into battle field to stop the two warring alchemists. It wasn't a mystery why the Flame Alchemist and the Fullmetal Alchemist were at each other's throats. The war with the homunculi had ended just over a year ago. It came to no surprise that the two hot headed alchemists had begun these mini brawls each time an argument had broken out in the office. Unfortunately General Hammond didn't know about this or anything about alchemy, thus getting a big shock when he saw the mushroom cloud form in the sky. Hammond was suddenly snapped out of his own thoughts when he felt a hand tugging gently at his American military jacket. It was Hughes.

"Let's go with them! You need to see Fullmetal and the Flame in action, seeing as you know nothing about Amestris, this is the best way to get to know it!"Hughes said, half dragging General Hammond behind him.

"Are you crazy? Things are exploding out there!" General Hammond yelled, trying to pry Hughes' hand off.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine, Hawkeye and Al will sort it out." Hughes said, seemingly oblivious to the danger of things exploding at close range.

General Hammond had no choice but to hesitantly half follow, half get dragged along by the crazy Brigadier General, whom was following the Major and the Lieutenant Colonel into ruins of the destroyed Central Military Parade grounds.

After five minutes of walking around carters, dodging what looked like fallen rocks, cliffs that rose to an insane height, and massive spikes that rose up ten meters from the ground, the group of four came across the same two fighting humans General Hammond had seen previously.

This time, however the American General was able to get a better look at the people who had caused so much damage. The first was wearing a blue Amestrian military uniform, with one gold star on the shoulder, indicating that this was the Major General Mustang that General Hammond had flown from America to see.

He had dark black hair, fair skin and a seemingly dark blue right eye, the left was covered over with an eye patch. The Major General was young, very young he didn't look a day over thirty five, however the eye patch indicated that he had been through more than his age let on.

On the Major Generals' hands where a pair of white gloves with an odd red circular design neatly intertwined into the white thread. Mustang held his right hand in a position simular to clicking and was franticly looking around for something or someone.

All of a sudden a flash of gold and black suddenly flew down from a tall rock to the Major Generals left. It was the other, he was wearing a black tank top, black leather pants along with black and red combat boots. The teen had his long golden hair pulled back into a thick braid; he had lightly tanned skin and golden eyes which sharp with a mixture of concentration and annoyance. Major Elric and this teen had the same golden eyes, golden hair and tanned skin. Even if the new teen's features were more of a distinct gold, any fool could see that the two are related.

However, General Hammond had _almost_ missed a very important detail. As the blond teen flew down at the older man with a bladed _metal_ arm; the deadly blade was so sharp it looked as if it could slice Mustang in to mice meat. Metal... this _kid_ had a metal arm... Fullmetal... General Hammond didn't have time to dwell on to matter when he heard a...

**Snap.**

Intense heat suddenly exploded around General Hammond and the Amestrians, shielded their eyes with the back of their hands. The teen had no chance and they were just standing there watching-

Wait...What?

Instead of the kid there was a sturdy but singed wall of stone that had suddenly appeared in place the blond teen was just seconds ago.

"Getting slow in your old age, Mustang?" a young voice teased.

It must be the kids' it was coming from behind the wall. The voice didn't sound angry or scared even, but how were they making flames and walls appear out of thin air? Where they even human?

"Not a chance Fullmetal, I missed because you're just too small to fry." It was the smug, cool voice of the Major General.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL YOU WANNA COOK UP LIKE A SHRIMP?" the voice behind the rock screeched.

There was a clapping sound and not even a second later, sharp spikes emerged from the rock and flew towards Mustang. The Major General simply snapped his fingers and fire compressed the airborne spikes into a shower of dust, rock and flame.

"There's only one shrimp here and... oh wait, I can't see him, he really is too small." Mustang said with a smirk his right eye shining with mirth.

"YOU BASTARD, I'LL BREAK DOWN YOUR FEET AND STICK 'EM ON YOUR HEAD!" Fullmetal yelled.

The wall disintegrating and the enraged blond-chibi charged at Mustang with astonishing speed.

Suddenly, Fullmetal changed course, a very evil looking grin materialized on the teen's features. He swiftly veered to the left of Mustang, his blind side. Dashed about ten meters away, clapped his hands and pressed them to the ground, not even a second later an enormous and dangerous looking cannon with strange designs rose from the ground with a flash of electric blue light. Fullmetal was sitting on top and was about to activate it when...

**Zzzz... ssshhhhaaaa...**

The cannon suddenly seemed to decompose back into the ground, Fullmetal landing on the ground hard. Before Mustang could get an advantage over Fullmetal's drawback, a sudden jet of water hit the older man sending him flying to the dusty ground. The Major General was soaked to the skin. Hammond looked around and saw Major Elric was standing up, with his right hand resting on a metal pipe that was still dripping with water.

"What is wrong with the two of you? This is the sixth time this _month_ you two have destroyed the parade grounds!"The Major scolded.

Fullmetal sat up and looked at the person who had stopped the brawl.

"Aww... but Al…"Fullmetal groaned, dragging out Al's name.

Fullmetal promptly fell to the ground on his back, causing the dust on the ground to rise and settle.

"Don't 'but' me brother, both of knew too well that General Hammond was coming to visit." Al growled.

"That was today?" Mustang asked.

He sat up suddenly, water cascaded down from his hair and uniform down on to the dusty ground.

"Yes it _is_, sir" Hawkeye said matter-of-factly.

The Major General shook his head, causing droplets of fly off in random directions. His only eye looked over the group before falling on the shocked General Hammond. Fullmetal however didn't even take a glance up.

"This is your fault Fullmetal!" Mustang accused, turning his head swiftly at the young teen.

"HOW THE HELL IS IT MY FAULT?" Fullmetal screeched back, sitting up and giving a venomous glare at the Major General.

"IF GAVE ME YOUR REPORT LIKE A _NORMAL_ HUMAN BEING IN THE FIRST PLACE THEN THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED!" Mustang yelled back.

"IF YOU WEREN'T A TOTAL BASTARD ABOUT THE REPORTS THEN I WOULD HAVE! ALL YOU DO IS TELLING ME OFF ANYWAYS!" Fullmetal shouted back.

"AFTER LEVELLING THREE CITIES IN A HALF A YEAR, I THINK I HAVE THAT RIGHT!" Mustang shot at the teen smugly.

"Ghhhaaa! I didn't level three, ONE was sinking and another was really, really old, sides' it wasn't as if anyone was killed!"Fullmetal rebuked back at his superior officer.

"That's hardly the point!"Mustang said arrogantly at Fullmetal.

"See what I mean? ALL YOU DO IS-"

**Bang, bang, bang, bang!**

They both went silent.

"Okay, the two of you have had your fun, now it would be in everyone's best interest if we get along with this meeting, sirs." Hawkeye said calmly.

Both Mustang and Fullmetal nodded quickly and ran to the nearest door of Amestris' HQ.

"Follow me sir." Hawkeye said as she walked off the parade grounds, Al and Hughes right behind her.

"What the hell was that? How did you... how do they?" the General stammered, his brain was still trying to comprehend what he had just seen.

"It was alchemy." Hughes said casually. "Al can explain it better than I can."

"Alchemy is the science of understanding, deconstructing and reconstructing the structure of matter. Alchemists have to consider the earth, air, the Alchemic law of Equivalent Exchange and any other factors that may concern an Alchemic Transmutation." Al lectured smiling, confidently; the young alchemist had known about Alchemy most of his life.

"Alchemy?" the General questioned, his mind was overflowing with the information that was being poured into it.

This young Major reminded the General of Samantha Carter back home, they even spoke using scientific terms and other big words that Jack O'Neill had trouble trying to understand. It will be interesting if SG1 and these people met. Doctor Jackson and Major Carter would be asking them nonstop questions about Alchemy and Amestris.

"You're telling me that you can look at something, and then break it down to form something completely different?" the General asked after a minute of taking in information.

"Pretty much, Alchemy is a complex science, most Alchemists need a circle and corresponding ruins to perform a transmutation...however." al stopped.

"You didn't have one. Neither did Fullmetal." Hammond stated.

Now that he thought about it, only Mustang used a circle, general Hammond only saw Major Elric only touched the ground, but Fullmetal had clapped before the cannon rose suddenly from the ground.

Al nodded "General Mustang doesn't need one either, but he still uses his gloves for fire Alchemy. My brother and I, as well as General Mustang are state alchemists."

It was a change of subject; people did this when the conversion hit a personal problem or something they didn't want to be reminded of. There was a question General Hammond needs to know, no matter how personal.

"Why don't you need a circle?" Hammond asked.

Hawkeye, Hughes and Al suddenly stopped; a sudden heavy silence fell on the group.

"We're here General." Hawkeye said, stepping forward to open the HQ door.

It was more than obvious that these people were hiding something... something about this science called alchemy, something that could be very dangerous to the SCG and the world... and General Hammond was going to find out what.

-=-=-=-=-= chapter 1 end-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

_Please SG fans, look up FMA, you'll like it. I know it's an anime and I know that most adults think it's stupid, but it really is a great show._

_We use O-zone, O3 in rocket fuel, it is a flammable gas, and I thought this would be an excellent example of a gas that the Flame uses for his transmutations. _

_Al and Mustang have seen the Gate. Roy doesn't need gloves, just the spark to produce flames, it's more out of habit he wears the gloves. For him, it makes the transmutations faster too._

_Al will need gloves for a certain type of alchemy. See if you can guess. Al joined the military, I know your thinking wtf, but there was a reason, you will find that out next chapter._

_I hope you people liked it! I went through the damn chapter heaps of times, please tell me of any grammar or spelling mistakes, ill fix them up._

_Chapter one, (24/8) AG_

_4480 words, next chapter is on its way_

Equivalent Exchange: I write, you review.


	2. Chapter 2

Awakening Guardians

_Thanks to everyone who added and alerted this story, looking forward to some reviews._

_Hope you like the first chapter; please tell me if the characters are to OOC._

Chapter 2

The three Amestrians and single American walked down the white walled hallways of Central HQ, the only sound was the soft **clack, clack, clack **ofmilitary boots. After walking down seemingly endless white corridors, the group soon stopped at a wooden door; presumably the door Major General Roy Mustang's office was behind.

"This is where I leave you guys; I have a few cases that I need to check out. Al you and your brother are welcome for dinner, you are too General. Gracia makes a great apple pie!"Hughes said as he walked down the hallway.

"I'll try Hughes! You know how brother can be." Al yelled out after Hughes, waving his hand high in the air.

"Right! See you later! And make sure your brother eats something healthy!"Hughes yelled as the Brigadier General disappeared around the hallway corner.

"This way sir," Hawkeye said.

Hawkeye opened the wooden door to the office. The office was about the size of the SGC briefing room, there was a line of wooden tables congregated together in the centre of the room. The entire wooden desk was covered with stationary, paperwork along with numerous heavy and complicated looking books. The table looked like it could sit eight or so people, but only four sat at the wooden desk. Two were doing paperwork, the other two where deep in conversation.

"I'm telling you Breda, that tablet thing found in those weird, old ruins could have something to do with the Homunc-" a blond haired, blue eyed man was saying.

"Heh hem." Hawkeye stopped the conversation. "Aren't you two suppose to be doing work?" she asked.

"R-right away Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye!" the blond and the red head paled slightly and jumped up from their sets saluting their superior officer.

The blond haired man's eyes widened as he noticed General Hammond, he cleared his throat and everyone sitting looked stopped the paper work.

"Sir!" everyone in the office saluted the General.

"At ease." the General said.

They all sat.

At least there was something in this country he still knew about, and that was military protocols.

"General Hammond this is Captain Jean Havoc," the blond haired man stood up and saluted "Captain Heymans Breda," the pudgy red head man stood up and saluted "Second Lieutenant Vato Falman," a tall, thin grey haired man stood up and saluted "and Warrant Officer Kain Fuery." a young, nervous, black hair man with thick glasses stood up and saluted also.

"Sir!" They saluted at once and then swiftly sat down again, going on with whatever paperwork they were previously doing.

"Major, you go ahead and make sure that your brother and the Major General aren't at each other's throats." Hawkeye said to Al, who nodded and went though the door at the other end of the room.

"I apologise about what happened earlier." Hawkeye said, there was no emotion in her voice, but her brown eyes were hinted with a sympathetic glint.

"What in God's name where those two fighting about?" General Hammond questioned.

Hawkeye was about to answer, but was cut off by the blond haired man.

"Fullmetal, the Major and the Major General are State Alchemists, some of the best around. They don't hate each other; in fact Fullmetal and Flame get along really well when looking at Alchemical theory. Those two just use the other as an excuse to let off steam." Havoc said casually. "You gotta' be careful around Alchemists General. Al's alright... most of the time. But if someone gets Mustang or the Chief pissed off about something, all hell breaks loose."

"He's right, General, never piss off an Alchemist, no matter what rank." said Breda turning around in his chair to face Hammond.

Hawkeye sighed, "I'm afraid they're right, although Fullmetal, Soul and the Flame have quick tempers. They would never kill on unnecessary circumstances… however those three will not hesitate to protect themselves or others, particularly the people they care about, in the face of danger..." She stopped and looked at Hammond with a serious eye. "But don't get me wrong, they will **never **kill in cold blood. Those three will do everything they can to save lives, even at the risk or the cost of their own."

The General shivered involuntarily; there was a hidden message in Hawkeye's words. If the team was transferred over to the SGC, _ordering_ anyone of them to kill would be a very bad idea. Along with that information, it seemed that Hawkeye and perhaps the others didn't fully trust General Hammond. However it came to no surprise, it was obvious that these people had been through something big and its human instinct not to trust at first sight.

"I understand Lieutenant Colonel." General Hammond said sharply.

Hawkeyes' eyes softened with an unsaid understanding. She looked over in the direction of the closed office door that led to Mustang's office. Her eyes suddenly shifted too concern and slight irritation.

"Their fights are becoming more and more common." Hawkeye said her face was emotionless, but her voice held some annoyance and hidden worry.

"This is a regular occurrence?" Hammond asked shifting on the spot uncomfortably.

General Hammond couldn't have these Alchemists having these brawls once a month, let alone more then twice a week at the SGC. The base wouldn't stand a chance; the mountain would be a pile of rubble in less than two weeks.

"It never used to be… but after what's happened... there's no denying that those three are so use to battle and researching alchemy… it's become obvious to everyone in HQ that pure office work for five or six days a week makes them stir crazy." Hawkeye said thoughtfully.

"She's right, Fullmetal, Flame, hell even Major Elric go out to the parade grounds at least once a week, if not more." Havoc said, leaning aback in his chair.

"Yeah, they don't even bother to clean up the mess anymore; a lot of that mess was the last few battles. The most recent fight before this brawl was only a few days ago, then all the arguments in the office and out of work. Not even the _Fuhrer _or the other Generals bother to tell them off." Breda agreed, looking over to Hammond.

"It's going to be much harder if Al starts going out there more and more… you know what the brothers are like when they start sparing." Fuery said, looking restless.

"You mean _when_ Al starts going out there more often." Vato Fulman said to the young, skittish Warrant Officer.

Fuery shivered slightly and paled. Havoc chose this time to intervene, before the young Warrant Officer went into fatal position or ran out the door. Hammond made a mental note not to scare Fuery too much if the Warrant Officer gets transferred to the SGC.

"On a lighter note… Ever since the Flame and the Chief got back, I haven't heard a peep from the either of the two hot heads... yet." Havoc said putting a cigarette into his mouth and using a couple of matches from a book to light it.

Hawkeyes saw this and shook her head in dissatisfaction at Havocs unhygienic actions, he however took no notice.

"Don't jinx it Havoc!" Breda scolded.

Hawkeye looked at the clock on the wall. The Major General had at least twenty minutes to get things sorted and Al had just over five to stop any conflict between the two alchemists if needed.

"They should be ready, this way sir." Hawkeye said leading the General to the wooden door Al had previously gone into.

General Hammond followed Hawkeye who opened the door to the second office.

Inside was Major General Mustang sitting at the wooden desk hastily signing and his single eye swiftly reading the large amount of stacked paperwork. Mustang's white transmutation gloves where off, Hammond noticed a scar on both of his left and right hands; It was similar to healed knife or sword wounds he occasionally when SGC teams came back from dangerous missions.

Mustang hadn't noticed the pair come into the office. The Alchemist continued his paperwork not even looking up or looking at the pair. Hammond saw a black and red lump one of the soft looking black sofas. It was Fullmetal. The teen was sleeping soundly, his small chest rising and falling with rhythmic breathing. The small Alchemist looked so defenceless; it was a strange change for the General, seeing someone he knew was so powerful, sleeping so peacefully. The young Alchemist was now dressed in a long sleeved black clip-on vest. Covering his small body like a blanket was a tattered red jacket with the same symbol as Major Elric's. Hammond noticed that the youngest Alchemist, Al was sitting on the same sofa as Fullmetal. His legs hung over the couch arm and his upper body resting on his older brother's back. The Major had his head buried in a battered old journal.

"Sir." Hawkeye said, this snapped the Major General out of his frenzy of signing and reading papers.

Al looked up from the journal, smiled at Hawkeye but didn't make a move to get up from the seat or disturb his brother from his slumber.

"Hawkeye, General Hammond." The Major General stood up and saluted the General, who saluted back.

This will be an interesting conversation. Alchemy... General Hammond had never even seen anything like it before, not even in amongst all the crazy problems that the SG teams brought back through the Stargate... Although, now that the General thought about it; majority of the crazy stuff was brought back home with SG1.

"I'm sorry you had to see the brawl between Fullmetal and myself sir." Mustang said calmly and quietly.

For a man ranked lower than General Hammond, Mustang was quite calm. But then recalling what the others had said back in the office; this man, nor either of the small teens were ones to mess with. It would be foolish to get off on a wrong start with these people. Hammond could be wasting an essential opportunity for the SGC.

"Apology accepted Major General, it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen." only **one** of the most. "I didn't even know alchemy existed till now." General Hammond said quietly, weary of the sleeping alchemist.

The one eyed Major General noticed this and smiled a little. "Don't worry about Elric General Hammond, Fullmetal could sleep through an earthquake."

"Should I wake up brother, sir?" Al said, still not looking up from the old journal.

"Yes, Alphonse, _you'd_ better wake Fullmetal up, I don't think the Major General's method would be the ethical choice right now." Hawkeye said, giving the Major General a quick glance.

Mustang's method of waking up the Fullmetal Alchemist usually consisted of numerous short jokes and height insults. And of course, depending on how tired Fullmetal was and if his brother was present to stop the two Alchemists, the verbal sparring match could turn into another free-for-all brawl.

"It's not my fault the spitfire fell asleep." Mustang said smugly, his visible eye shining with mirth.

"Perhaps... But with all due respect sir, _you_ are the one who starts these arguments. I know you both have been agitated recently, but that is _not_ an excuse to destroy the parade grounds each time either of you need to let off steam." Hawkeye said strictly and looked at Al with a stern brown eye. "The same goes for _you_ too, Major. Make sure you relay my message to your brother later."

The Soul Alchemist gave a terrified nod, and gulped soundly. Mustang paled slightly and coughed in to a fisted right hand.

It never ceased to amaze Hammond-and everyone else in the office, how scary but polite and calm the Lieutenant Colonel could be. The General made a mental note not to annoy her or the short tempered Alchemists in anyway.

As Al attempted to wake his older brother from his slumber, Hawkeye excused herself from the office room saying she had to make an important phone call. Personally, General Hammond was not complaining that the scary and crazy Lieutenant Colonel was out of the room. However, Hammond was worried what could happen with the Fullmetal Alchemist and Major General Mustang if they went on another verbal sparring match. It was hard to believe something that looked so defenceless when sleeping was a human weapon when awake. Alright, getting back on track, the meeting was not meant to be about the crazy Alchemists, it was about the Stargate and the ruins.

"Major General Mustang, where are the people who discovered the information about the Stargate?" the General asked, looking around.

He had expected to see a team of ten or so scientists and at least two or more archaeologists. However, they were not presently in the room. Only the Major General and the Elric brothers were in here, maybe the Elric's would go and call them in once Al had woke up Fullmetal.

"Well, you see General..." Mustang stated.

"We're right here." said the familiar voice of the Fullmetal Alchemist.

"General Hammond... it was Fullmetal, Soul and I who discovered _and_ decoded the tablet of Xerxes. We wanted to keep it quiet; Fullmetal and Soul have enough enemies as it is." Major General Mustang said smiling slightly.

"Like you can talk, Mustang." Fullmetal growled out, earning a painful elbow in the ribs from his younger brother.

"What! You're telling me Major General that three people, two being not even adults found and decoded the tablet? Is this your idea of a joke?" General Hammond asked in disbelief looking at the three of them.

This had to be a joke, there's no way in hell that only three people could have done that. What's more, it's impossible that two teenagers could have decoded something that may have been an alien script.

"If you believe us or not, it's up to you. What I can tell you is that the tablet in the ruins of Xerxes did mention something about a Gate. If it was the Stargate or not, was unclear." Fullmetal said getting up from the sofa.

His feral golden eyes held the Generals' gaze in place. How did those two get golden eyes anyway? The General wondered, he hand never seen that colour, even in the SGC.

"What do you mean by unclear?" General Hammond questioned, trying not to back down from the young Alchemist's challenging stare.

"A lot of the evidence in Xerxes was destroyed by more than just the natural elements," Mustang said, this gave Hammond the opportunity to break his eye contact with the Fullmetal Alchemist.

"Yeah, the tablet we found in a small crypt in what would have been a small chamber going from the main hall in the place, under a diagram of a Transmutation circle," Fullmetal continued. "Yet the bottom half the tablet seemed too have broken off..."

"You think that someone broke the tablet?" General Hammond asked.

What exactly were the Alchemists getting at? What was this all about?

"Not 'someone' General, we have an idea who destroyed it." Major Elric said.

Where they going to blame the American government? Aliens? The people of Xerxes? What was Xerxes? And couldn't they just ask the people in the city?

"Look. We took photos of the sight," Mustang said as he pulled out several photos from a thick cream folder marked 'top secret'.

This was the 'Xerxes' ruins' he had heard about. It didn't look like anything special at first glance, just a large stone with some sort of circular design, along with what looked like a pair of entwining dragon-like figures in the centre. Under was a small hole, the must have led to the crypt Fullmetal was talking about. It was in ruins, there was a photo of the outside of the city. It was totally uninhabited and surrounded by a barren desert. It would have been a nice place in the past... but now it the entire city and surroundings made everything in and around the city look lifeless.

"See that circular design General? Do you know what that is?" Fullmetal questioned, snapping the General out of his thoughts.

The golden eyed teen was pointing a metal finger at the circular design in the first photograph. The General just shook his head, of course he didn't. Hammond just discovered that Alchemy existed today, not even an hour ago and... Oh wait, Fullmetal didn't know that, he lives in a country where Alchemy is a way of life.

"I saw a circle just like it in Lab Five; this Transmutation Circle is used to create the Philosophers Stone…" Fullmetal said his golden eyes haunted at the recollection.

"WHAT!" General Hammond shouted.

He knew something about the stone, he had grandkids. They had gotten George to read the end of the first 'Harry Potter' book for a bedtime story. That Stone was nothing more than a fairytale for little kids. But then again, he didn't even know Alchemy existed until today.

"The Stone is used as an Alchemic amplifier; it can bypass the law of Equivalent Exchange," Fullmetal said ignoring Hammond's outburst. "However... the Stone's main ingredient is human lives."

What the hell? Looking at Fullmetal, the Major and Major General, they all had the same haunted expression, as if this was leading up to something even worse.

"Is this a joke? You're telling me that this Stone, made up of human lives can amplify Alchemy? This is the craziest thing I have ever heard!" General Hammond stated his hands quenched tightly into fists.

Fullmetal sighed. "The body and mind are just by-products; it's the human soul's energy that creates the majority of the Stone's energy matter."

The General was speech less at the three Alchemists, astounded at how they could even say such a thing, let alone know about something so horrific. Even at the SGC, even all the dangerous pieces of technology and ghastly life forms teams had pulled back home had made more sense than this. This was crazy! These people where insane!

Suddenly the door opened.

"I assure you, General Hammond, it is quite the honest truth. However... there is much, much more to this story," An elderly voice said.

Major General Mustang got up and saluted the new comer quickly; Fullmetal and the Major, on the other hand didn't move they just stared at the floor, eyes glazed. Hammond swiftly turned around to see the leader of Amestris; Fuhrer Grumman standing in the doorway with Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye closely behind him.

"I thought I might pop in for visit and help sort things out a bit." Fuhrer Grumman said. "Colonel Edward Elric, Major Alphonse Elric, why don't you tell General Hammond the whole story."

What the HELL is going on here?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-= chapter break up-=-=-=-=-=-=

Time skip, FMA story gets explained. - I'm not going through all of the FMAB story line! You can Google it! Just remember that it's a mix of BH and the older anime

By the time the three Alchemists had explained everything that had happened in the last seventeen years, General Hammond was confused, irritated, shocked and astounded. What was amazing was that the three Alchemists had been able to retain their sanity. Although General Hammond still had his doubts if Fullmetal was still completely sane. The Fuhrer had left half way during the briefing, telling the General to try to keep an open mind, even if it did sound crazy. He had also told Fullmetal to take it easy and mentioned something about the parade grounds.

Colonel Elric now seemed to be in a slightly better mood from when the conversation first stared. After General Hammond had sat down and kept an open mind, Fullmetal, his younger brother and Mustang had a much easier time telling the story. Apart from a few quarrels from both Mustang and Ed, the meeting had gone smoothly. Hammond was getting use to these small bickers that mostly consisted of height jokes and profanities. General Hammond sighed, taking another sip of his coffee before setting the mug back down on to the coffee table.

"May I ask if you have taken it on yourselves to destroy all traces the stone, why did you stop trying to locate the rest of the tablet?" General Hammond asked the Alchemists.

The question was more directed at the Elric brothers than Major General Mustang, the three Alchemists had taken the burden of the destroying the traces of the Stone after the Promised Day. However, the brothers knew the most about the homunculi. Curiosity sent the team to Xerxes, although it wasn't the only reason. The other was yet to be revealed.

The brothers looked at each other, nodded, and then back at Hammond and Mustang.

"It didn't have anything else to do with the Stone." The brothers said in unison, shrugging.

"THAT'S WHY?" Mustang yelled. "And here I was thinking you two were depressed..."

"You should know by now that WE DON'T STAY DEPRESSED FOR LONG! Anyways, what did you expect us to do? Build a rocked and _fly_ to other planets? Other countries might have that kind of technology, but Amestris sure doesn't!" Colonel Elric yelled back.

"The tablet was destroyed anyway, the rest of the pieces were either missing or had eroded away. And I agree with brother, the tablet only said there _could_ be a connection between the Homunculi and other worlds it didn't _prove_ it. Anyways, it was a total fluke brother managed to seal 'Father' in the Gate we aren't in too much of a hurry to dive head first in something so dangerous anytime soon." The Soul Alchemist said matter-of-factly.

"It wasn't just me Al; I would have been dead if it wasn't for you and all the others." Colonel Elric murmured.

"We all know you are useless without us, Fullmetal."Mustang said, his right eye shining with humorous spark.

"Says the one who needs a gun pointed at his head _and_ continuous nagging just to get the paperwork finished _before_ the end of the day!" Ed snarled.

Not yet totally use to these arguments, but smart enough not to get involved, General Hammond let the quarrel slide, only giving a small sigh. Al on the other hand was about to get up and stop the argument when another question was prompted from Hammond.

"How did you decode it?" the General asked, this stopped the argument and it was a question he needed to ask.

Xerxes was a city wiped out hundreds of years ago, that type of language doesn't even exist any more. Even thought the tablet was in Xerxen, language booklets just don't fall out of the sky... so how did they decode it?

The room went silent. Deadly silent, even Mustang and Fullmetal suddenly stopped the fight of trying to blow the other up with their brains. Instead Mustang looked at the two golden eyed Alchemists with a hit of sympathy and remorse.

"Our father... gave me and my brother his old journals." Major Elric said, not looking up at General Hammond. Al's golden eyes were glued to the floor.

"Why isn't your father here? If he's a part of this too, then I need to know where he found the information about the ruins and the script." The General said.

Hammond had a nagging feeling at the back of his head that there was something wrong.

"He's dead." Fullmetal said bluntly, his golden eyes fixed on the red carpet on floor.

That's what was wrong. But it was a question that had to be asked, and General Hammond still needed to know where the Elric brother's late father got the information.

"General this is above top secret, you cannot tell anyone unless necessary. It could put you, the SGC and everyone here in danger. If these things are alive on another planet... and if they find out about..." Major General Mustang said gravely.

"Major General, I know everything that was said in this room is classified, but what could be worse than the Homunculi?" Hammond asked.

Mustang didn't answer; he just looked at Fullmetal and the Soul Alchemist, who looked back at him with questioning golden eyes. Mustang nodded.

"General, most of the country knows about the Homunculi, this is different…" Al said still avoiding the General's gaze.

Hammond felt Fullmetal's golden eyes boring into his head; the General turned and looking the young Colonel straight in his golden eyes, he was not backing down this time. A minute passed before Fullmetal spoke.

"General we told you about Xerxes; it was destroyed hundreds of years ago by someone transmuting the souls of the city's inhabitants into pure energy, into what we call the Philosophers Stone. But there was one survivor..." Fullmetal stopped and collected his thoughts.

"That survivor was the culprit and the victim; he was tricked by the first Homunculus to perform the transmutation. He did not know that everyone in the city would be sacrificed," Al said sorrowfully. "He became immortal, half the souls went to the survivor and the other half went to the Homunculus."

"His name was Van Hohenheim. He, along with Major Elric, Fullmetal, Mrs. Curtis and myself were used as 'human scarifies' on the Promised Day. We along with _everyone_ in Amestris are lucky to be alive." Major General Mustang said, closing his visible eye. "General Hammond, do you know what the people of Xerxes look like?"

"My I remind you, Major General that I didn't even know that alchemy existed until today. Do you really think I would know what to people of an ancient civilisation looked like?" General Hammond said in a harsh tone.

He was really starting to get sick of these Alchemists beating around the bush. Even with the experience of SG1's Doctor Jackson and Major Carter, who both felt the need to explain everything, the General was staring to get impatient with the Amestrians.

Recalling the Major General's pervious words, Hammond noticed that Mustang used present speech_, 'General Hammond, do you know what the people of Xerxes look like?' _Did that mean that there are Xerxens still alive today? But how? And who? Even if Hohenheim could have had kids, there was no hope for the race's survival…

"General, the basic features of the Ancient Xerxes' was tanned skin, golden hair and golden eyes... sound like anyone you have met recently?" Mustang said calmly.

General Hammond's eyes widened. He turned around fast to face the Elric brothers; they had golden eyes and golden hair... Did that mean that these two young Alchemists were the last of the Ancient civilisation? And their late father... was practically immortal.

"Van Hohenheim was our father; Al and I are half Amestrian on our mother's side and half Xerxen on our father's side." Fullmetal said, gazing at the General with his piercing golden eyes.

"That's why we need to be careful." Al said. "It's possible that if the Gate that the first homunculus was sealed in is connected somehow to the Stargate. Or if it came from other planet the Stargate is linked to. The Homunculi could try and come after us and others for what we know and our heritage."

"If that's true, then why do you want to join the Stargate program? Wouldn't that just put you in more danger?" General Hammond asked.

The older Elric gave a small sigh. "What would happen if one of your teams ran into a Homunculus or a powerful transmutation by accident?"

"You can brief them all you want, but even most Alchemists don't come out unscathed from that kind of enemy. My team and I sure didn't." Mustang said, unconsciously lifting a hand to his covered left eye.

The Colonel was right. It would be stupid to let this opportunity go to waste, Mustang's team were good people, they just had steaks of bad luck in their lives, especially the Elric brothers. Series of unfortunate events and the Elric brothers, Mustang's team, as well as Hughes and the Armstrong's just got dragged into. They had no say if they wanted to or not and none of them could have known that a big mistake of Human Transmutation could lead to something bigger the almost extinction of an entire country.

General Hammond needed a minute to think about this. there was no way he could get way with the Elric's Xerxen features, Alchemy, Mustang's eye and Fullmetal's' Automail at the SGC. At least not without a certain grumpy Doctor Frasier, waving a syringe or scalpel in front of Hammond's face, demanding to tell him what was with these new SGC members.

General Hammond sighed. "If you do join the Stargate program, your ability to perform Alchemy, your past heritage, including personal heritage of your failed Transmutations and your connections to Xerxes along with Fullmetal's Automail will go on file." Hammond saw Colonel Elric look at him with furious cat-like eyes. "However, the only people who will have access to the file will be our head Doctor, Janet Frasier, the American President and I."

Fullmetal's gaze softened and understanding crept in to his golden eyes. All three of the alchemists gave a small, but hesitant nod.

"Unless the situation calls for it, it will be entirely up to you if you want to brief any of the SG teams or SCG personnel about your past." General Hammond said formally.

"Yes sir." The three alchemists said.

Four intelligent golden eyes and a calm dark blue eye gazed at General Hammond as he spoke. The Alchemists appeared to be analysing him, it still seemed like they didn't quite trust him yet.

"It will take some time for the paperwork to go through, but after I consult the president and the SGC. Your Mustang's team, along with any other personnel in the military who was connected to the Promised Day or information concerning the Homunculi, will be transferred over to the SGC, if they so chose. However, those extra personnel will not be briefed until after they are out of the country." General Hammond finished up.

"Yes, sir... Thank you." Major General Mustang said sincerely.

The Major General swiftly shifted his single eye to the Elric brothers. Ed paid no attention to the General; Al on the other had given Mustang his undivided attention.

"Right you two," Mustang half growled, making Al jump slightly and Ed roll his eyes. "Why don't the two you get some dinner? It's getting late and I know that Fullmetal hasn't eaten since breakfast."

General Hammond looked out the small window in the office. It was late, and the sky was filled with blood red clouds as the sun slowly settled behind the far off mountains that surrounded the city of Central. He hadn't realised that it was so late.

"Oh yeah! And how do you know that Mustang? Been keeping tabs on us again?" Colonel Elric questioned, jumping angrily to his feet and pointed at the Major General accusingly.

The Major General smiled smugly, looking at the short tempered blond.

"Didn't you realise? We fought through lunch, or did your _small_ brain forget that? Here I thought you were a genius." Mustang said.

3...2...1...

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALL?" the elder Elric yelled, making a run and jump for the Major General.

Oh great, another brawl.

But Fullmetal's younger brother was one step ahead; Al quickly had grabbed the flailing teen by his braided golden hair. This caused the elder brother to stop suddenly, his face quickly twisted up in a mix of surprise and pain.

"See ya, General Hammond! Major General, were goanna' go get some food, now! We'll see you back at the hotel Mr. Hammond!" Al yelled out as he opened the office door, pulling an irritated, red faced Ed behind him by the braid of hair.

Old habits die hard.

The Major General's eyes sparked in a sudden realisation and remembrance. Mustang quickly stood up from his desk and stuck his head out of the open door the two young Alchemists had just used to depart.

"POCKY AND RAMEN DOES _NOT_ COUNT AS FOOD! EAT SOMETHING _HEALTHY _FOR ONCE!" Mustang yelled out to the two retreating brothers.

There was an instant mixed reply of.

"STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!" Yell from the infuriated Edward Elric.

Along with a polite yell of "Hughes invited us over for dinner!" coming from Al.

As the office door snapped shut, the Major General gave an exhausted sounding sigh as he walked over to the desk.

"The last time the brothers' had their idea of 'dinner', it consisted of numerous boxes of Pocky and five bowls of Ramen each... that was when we were decoding that tablet. Ever since then, Hughes and I have always made them eat at his or my house as often as possible." The Major General said after Hammond looked at him, puzzled.

"Those two might be Alchemic geniuses, but when it comes to looking after their bodies, food wise..." The Major General laughed "They're totally clueless. Whatever you do General, _do not_ let either of the brothers anywhere near a kitchen."

Hammond gave a small smile as Riza Hawkeye walked into the office and placed a large amount of paperwork on the Major General's desk. Hammond saw a gleeful glint in Mustang's right eye as He reached into his right-hand pant pockets to get his ignition gloves. Mustang stopped abruptly when Riza loaded a military issued pistol with a **click.**

"Please do not 'accidently' light the paper work on fire, sir."Hawkeye said, glaring at the Major General.

Mustang shuddered slightly, then sighed and placing a pen in his right hand as he began to sign the papers. Hammond gave a smile, this is what these people where like? They reminded George of SG1. He had no doubt that Mustang's team and Hughes would fit in perfectly with the SCG.

The only down side was these men- and women, had gone to hell and back... and history had a nasty habit of repeating itself.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=End of chapter 2-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Over 5800 words, a bit longer than the first last chapter.

The next chapter will revolve mostly around the Elric brothers, their pov on the SCG, the General, Mustang, and their feelings on people they will be leaving behind. They will also meet up with Hammond and Mustang at some point.

Your properly wondering why and how Al is in the military, right? All will be explained in the next chapter... or the one after.

I just had to put the Pocky line in! Vic said it at one of the conventions. I can imagine Ed and Al decoding scripts and not eating the right food. If it wasn't for Mustang, they would still be doing it to this day.

May I remind you, this fic does have the parental pairing of Ed and Al X Mustang PARENTAL! If you don't like it, don't read it!

_I write, you review... _

_Equivalent Exchange_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Info on this chapter

Warnings! People who don't like mentions of obsessive disorders, STOP, and think about turning back! I'm not kidding; I will take this fic down if too many people complain.

Rated for Ed's language, Hawkeye and verbal fighting.

Pairings

PARENTAL Hughes/ Ed and Al

PARENTAL/BROTHERLY Roy/ Ed and Al

Not much in this chapter hopefully some character development and insight to the Elric brothers' past after the Promised Day, it's more for you SG1 fans that don't really know what's going on... If you haven't seen FMA, watch or read the manga or anime, it really is a good story and one of the best Anime of all time.

Please tell me if _any_ of the characters are too OOC, I have tried my best... but it can be tricky...

And yes I know this chapter is one day early, I'm just not sure if I would have the time to finish it and post it up tomorrow. It might have a few more spelling mistakes or grammar mistakes, if so please tell me.

_Enjoy..._

Chapter 3

Edward walked down the old marble steps of Central Military HQ with his younger brother, Al at his side. Ed's golden eyes gazed at the setting sun that was slowly sinking behind the far off horizon. It was beautiful; a mixture of reds, white, gold, azure and saffron. If there was one thing in this world Ed would never get sick of looking at it would be the sunset... and a really interesting Alchemy book... and maybe food...

His stomach gave a loud rumbling complaint at the thought of food. Major General Useless was right, he hadn't eaten since breakfast. Ed really should get something for him and Al to eat... But he wanted to go to the Library first. He and Al need the information on Human Transmutation and Chimeras. Al had come up with the theory of transmuting the souls of the Chimeras out of the transmuted victim. It wasn't that he trusted his little- _younger _brother, but it felt like there was still something missing. Soul transmutation was a risky and complicated form of Alchemy. It was not only the human or animal Souls you had to transmute but transmuting human Chimeras. A make-up of both human and animal soul, body and mind combined together in one being... _Many _things could go wrong to the Alchemist transmuting and the chimera, if not done correctly.

This is what Ed and Al were trying to avoid, something going wrong. Ed was worried enough when he had seen Al transmute a _small_ portion of his own soul into another object. The first time Al did it, was a total accident, nothing more than a one-in-a-million chance. But it had worked. There were no visible side effects, except for extreme exhaustion after and during the transmutation, nothing two day's worth of sleep didn't fix. Of course Ed had almost blown a hole in the hospital roof. The only thing stopping the powerful young Alchemist was the guys from HQ and a _very_ powerful sedative.

Slowly after more and more practice, Al was able to split his soul into inanimate objects and_ control_ them. The control was brief, but the Soul-Split Transmutations have been very helpful in tight situations. Even if the elder Elric wasn't thrilled with his younger brother using the strange Alchemic technique, Ed soon found that Al was just as stubborn as he was.

Splitting the Chimeras was based on Al's ability to transmute his soul in to other objects. Of course it will not be a temporary, the transmutation will be permanent. That's what worried Ed. Any sort of transmutation for human souls requires a massive amount of energy. Then there was the Equivalent Exchange: when Al split his soul into other objects, he was either out cold or very weak for short or long periods of time.

That time varied on the intervals Al held the Soul-Spilt Transmutation and the mass of the object. Any idiot could work out that Al's energy was the _short_ term effect of the transmutation, but the long term was tricky. _If_ there was a long term effect... it _could _be anything from cancer to a shortened life span... it might even do something to Ed. The brothers shared a physic or telepathic link from the time they had tried to transmute their mother back to life. The extent to this link was unknown.

That's why Al's body survived in the Gate for so long; it was living off the small amount of nutrients from Ed. There was no way to tell if the link was still active and in the past year there had been no sort of indication that it was. But Ed had a sinking feeling that Truth, being the son of a bitch it is, might not have cut them loose from its grasp just yet. Ed shuddered at the thought of seeing the Gate and that Truth thing again. 'The Gate' was a space between dimensions; it controlled the flow of Alchemy and life. It also held a vast amount of information that was forcefully downloaded into the Alchemists' brain, casing the link between the Alchemist and the Gate to strengthen.

Ed and Al had seen it when they were ten and eleven years old, that's why they didn't need a transmutation circle to use Alchemy. Mustang and Izumi, Ed and Al's teacher had also seen the portal that had labelled the four Alchemists as 'Human Sacrifices' by the Homunculi. The Gate could be summoned with Human Transmutation. The known ways of summoning the Gate and the Truth: transmuting a large amount of humans for the Philosopher's stone, trying to bring someone back from the dead or transmuting yourself.

The questions; was it still controlling the strings this time or is there something else? And are the Elric brothers the only ones involved? After all, they weren't the only Alchemists connected to the Gate, Mustang and Izumi were too.

"Brother..." Al said softly, causing Ed to snap out of his thoughts.

Ed stopped walking, stopping just outside of HQ's massive metal Gate, Al stopped beside him. Ed looked at his younger brother with a pair of soft, questioning golden eyes.

"What is it?" Ed asked.

"What do you want for dinner?" Al asked enthusiastically, almost bouncing on the spot.

For Al it didn't matter what food it was, as long as it was eatable. He had been like that ever since he got his body back from the Gate. Of course it came to no surprise; any sort of involvement with his younger brother's senses touch, taste and smell will never be taken for granted in his life again.

"Well... I _really_ want to get to the library before it closes, think you could hold dinner off for another twenty minutes or so? I want to get some books to check out your theory." Ed said, looking at his silver State pocket watch.

Al gave a small, fake pout. Ed knew it was a fake; Al liked going to the Library just as much as he did, and would gladly give up twenty minutes or so getting books then dinner. Al was also good at debating and getting what he wants... people usually found that out the hard way.

"Fine, but we are going to Hughes' for dinner, alright?" Al said it was more of a death threat then an agreement.

Ed laughed, "Ok, but General Hammond might be there. I know he scares you."

It wasn't hard to figure out; Al had never been completely comfortable around strangers. Military especially, they were hard to read with the emotionless façade. Al didn't hate them; he just found it unnerving to be around seemingly emotionless people he hadn't known for a long time. Could be something to do when his soul was trapped in that old armour… That's why Al was uncomfortable around Genera Hammond, but at ease around Mustang and the team at work. The guys from headquarters occasionally let the brothers see through their emotional mask from time to time. Plus, Ed and Al had known them for a long time, and they trusted the guys.

They had been through so much together, Mustang had helped Ed with the Alchemy exam, and he and his team was there to turn to when the Homunculi got too big for the Elric's alone to handle. The brothers knew Mustang his own agenda, to find and destroy the Homunculi after they were uncovered by the Elrics. But after Hughes got shot and Havoc's spinal injury from Lust it was too late. Mustang, his team and the Elric brothers were ensnared in a deadly trap where not one of them could escape from.

"He does not!" Al retorted then stopped. "Mustang might be there too, brother. You know how Hughes can be; he'll throw a party and invite as many people as possible." Al teased.

Ed stopped laughing; it was either Library or risk spending more time than needed with his superior officer. It wasn't always like this, Ed just because annoyed because he and Mustang didn't get to end the fight from before. Usually the Major General would drag the brothers away from the State Library or HQ to either to buy dinner at some random cafe or Mustang would drive the brothers to his or Hughes' house. Al knew his brother did really appreciate these random acts of kindness, but would never admit it to Mustang himself.

Ever since the Major General found out that nether of the brothers knew how to cook a basic meal, he or Hughes dragged them over at least once every three days, if not more. This of course had taken its toll on Ed's temper. Al knew his brother was just covering up his childish helplessness feelings with false anger and annoyance. Ed always did this covered up his true emotions with other, mostly hostile emotions and actions; it irritated Al and Mustang to no end. Everyone could see through the Alchemist act. They had told Ed many times that he was just a kid and it was ok to let adults help them from time to time.

Luckily for the well being of everyone in HQ and the brothers, and after numerous 'talks', constant nagging from Gracia, Maes, Ross, Al and Mustang, plus a loaded gun pointed at his head from Hawkeye. Ed slowly accepted the undeniable or avoidable fact that he would get dragged over either Mustang's or Hughes' house at least twice a week either by the hosts themselves, Ross, Hawkeye, Havoc or Al.

Unfortunately this didn't make Ed any less hostile towards the Major General or vice-versa. Fortunately for the welfare and safety of others, the Major General had been dealing with the Fullmetal Alchemist before he was a teen. Mustang had no trouble handling the crazy, young Alchemist when Ed was in one of his many 'moods'.

Al watched as his brother's face turn into a scowl; he could actually _see_ the gears ticking way in Ed's brain, trying to find a way out of this predicament.

"FINE! But if _he_ turns into a bastard I'm leaving! Unless Hughes agrees we can use his house as a battle ground." Ed snarled as he stomped off down the street.

Al just laughed as he followed his brother down the darking streets of Central, yelling at Ed that he was going the wrong way. Even though Ed was an Alchemic Genius, his older brother really had no sense of direction. It was something that Mustang usually teased the Fullmetal Alchemist about to no end.

-=-=-=-=-= Chapter Break up -=-=-=-=-=-=

A forty-five minute trip and over a dozen books from the State Library later, Al pressed the Hughes' household doorbell. In the short time after sunset, the night had grown cold. Even with his thick red jacket on, Ed was shivering slightly in Central's cold night air.

Not a minute later the door opened, letting through a sudden gust of warm air and light. Hughes caught sight and smiled warmly at the shivering brothers.

"Hey! We were wondering if you were going to show up." Hughes said as he stepped aside to let the brothers through into the warm hall.

"We went to the State Library; we needed some information on Human, Chimera and Soul Alchemy."Ed said.

Ed and Al placed their books on the ground before taking off their red coats and hanging them on the coat rack. It was much warmer inside than outside and there was no need for the long, thick coats. Ed sniffed the air and his stomach grumbled at the small of food.

"What are you boys working on this time?" Hughes asked interested, he smiled when Ed's stomach rumbled at his wife's cooking.

Maes Hughes, being in the investigations department in the Military, could get a hold of all sorts of information. Sometimes he would dig it up and show the Elric brothers a cold case or information that had a connection to whatever the brothers were investigating. Depending on what Hughes found could lead the brothers out of Central, usually on a mission or to gathering information out of town. There had been many cases where the two said Alchemists had practically lived in the Library for weeks at a time, trying to crack a code or find out more about the topic. Of course this sometimes leads to something very dangerous, the Homunculi and crazed Alchemists such as Shou Tucker or Scar being a fine example of dangerous Alchemists.

Hughes and Mustang were the two who gave the brothers leads or the missions connected to a cold case or people who could linked to the brother's Alchemy topic. It was Mustang and Hughes who blamed themselves when either of the brothers had ended up in the hospital or dragged themselves into the office bleeding fresh blood on the clean carpets. Neither Ed nor Al ever accused Hughes or Mustang of the cause of their wounds, always saying: 'You weren't the one who hurt my brother, we chose to go on that mission and we knew the risks.'

"We're looking into Al's soul-spilt transmutations-" Ed said as he picked up his stack of Alchemy books.

"And my theory of reverse chimera transmutations." Al finished smiling brightly at Hughes.

"It will be interesting to know the outcome... Keep me posted; I'll see what I can find in the old archives. There might be something that the Homunculi kept hidden." Hughes said, making a face.

The very thought of the Homunculi now makes everyone who is in earshot shudder at the very mention of the 'immortal' creatures. Even now Sciezska, Hughes, Ed, Al, Armstrong, Scar, Mustang and his team uncovers new information, evidence on the Homunculi or their plans for the 'Human Sacrifices' and the Gate.

"We will." Al responded cheerily.

"Big brothers!" a young cheery voice sounded from the living room.

Hughes daughter Elysia came bouncing into the hallway, with a black and white dog running alongside her. Ed unfortunately didn't see the small black and white dog know all over base as Black Hayate. The said dog jumped and crashed into the eldest Elric's upper torso, sending the young Alchemist falling to the hard wooden floor boards with a screeching yell.

"GET OFF ME!" Ed shouted at the little dog that had the great Fullmetal Alchemist pinned to the floor.

"Silly little big brother! Black Hayate just wants to play!" Elysia giggled as she latched on to Al's hand and arm.

Ever since Al had his human body back, Hughes' daughter had taken a liking to him. It wasn't that she didn't like the elder, but Al was more calm and quite than his older brother and had the patient nature to play the silly, childish games with Elysia.

"IM NOT LITTLE IM THE _OLDER BROTHER_! AND I DO _NOT_ WANT TO PLAY!" Ed shouted.

Edward struggled as he ranted, Hayate barked at him as if to tell the young Alchemist off.

"Brother, you don't need to yell," Al scolded.

"Well Fullmetal, you are still _shorter_ than your _younger brother_, don't go blaming a five year old for mistaking you as the _little brother_," A smug voice of the Major General said.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL YOU WOULD MISTAKE HIM FOR A LITTLE KID?" Ed yelled.

Mustang laughed and clutched his stomach, Elysia giggled and Hughes gallantly tried to hide his snigger. Al just sighed and muttered something about immature adults to Elysia who giggled, before she pulled the youngest Elric down the hallway and disappeared into the living room.

Wait, if Hawkeye's dog was here... then that means.

"Black Hayate, come." A strict voice commanded.

Black Hayate gave a bark before Ed felt the dog's weight leave his chest. Everyone had stopped laughing at Ed's misfortune; they all knew the voice and the tone.

Riza Hawkeye stood in the doorway, arms crossed in front of her chest. General Hammond was right behind her looking at the scene with a mix of confusion, amusement and a small hint of recollection.

"I was wondering what all the ruckus was about," Riza said, her brown eyes narrowing slightly. "May I remind you sirs, that this is _not_ the Office _or_ the Parade Grounds. If either you or Fullmetal starts a fight _in or out_ of this house, the Hughes' and I will NOT be pleased."

Riza didn't even have to raise her voice. But the effect was instant; Roy and Ed paled before nodding quickly, as if it established their promise to behave. Satisfied, Hawkeye gave the two Alchemists a warning glare before walking back through the doorway to the Lounge. After minute of silence, Ed spoke up.

"Hawkeye, Winry and teacher are three people who I would _never ever_ mess with or piss off. Funny... they're all female and somehow manage turn seemingly harmless objects into dangerous weapons." Ed said as he stood up from the ground.

"Fullmetal, after years of experience... I have come to a valid conclusion about those three." Mustang stated coughing lightly into his hand. It was a habit he did when he was nervous, usually after Hawkeye had scolded or pointed her gun at the pyromaniac's head.

Ed and Hughes leaned in close; General Hammond looked at the Flame Alchemist, curious to Roy's conclusion about the person he had met recently and two people he hadn't even heard of. They had to be scary, if they frightened the Fullmetal and Flame Alchemists.

"They and all other females are_ insane_." The Flame Alchemist said as if he was revealing the greatest secret of all time. (A/N)

General Hammond couldn't help but smile and let out a small but amused chuckle. The Flame Alchemist reminded him of Jack O'Neill back at the SGC. Those two had never met, but it will be interesting when they did.

"They're insane?" Ed parroted, raising a golden eye brow.

The Flame Alchemist nodded, confirming his statement. Ed thought carefully before answering.

"I guess that makes sense. It _is_ a valid hypothesis...I mean, what other explanation can there be?" Ed murmured.

"My wife's not insane! Here, look at how beautiful she is!" Hughes said ecstatically, pulling out numerous pictures of his wife and kid.

"Hughes, you pull out those pictures and I swear to the Gate, I will torch them!" Mustang growled.

**Bang, bang, bang!**

Three rounds fired narrowly missing the Flame Alchemist's head.

"Don't you even think about it sir! There will be no Alchemy in this house," the calm voice of Riza Hawkeye yelled out from the Lounge room doorway.

"General Hammond, you want to look at these pictures, right?" Hughes asked, taking a step towards the American.

"No thank you Brigadier General..." Hammond said nervously, taking a step back.

"Aww, come on... here look at this; Elysia is riding her red tricycle in this one. You can keep it I have three other copies." Hughes said joyfully, pressing a photo of Elysia in to General Hammond's hand.

"HEY, HE DOESN'T NEED A CRAZY BRIGADIER GENERAL WITH SOME SORT OF OBSESSIVE NEED TO SHOW EVERYONE PICTURES OF HIS WIFE AND KID ANNOYING HIM!" Ed yelled. (A/N)

"You're not talking about me are you Ed? Here, let me how you a picture of Elysia, you and Al are in this one too!" Hughes said holding a picture up to Ed's nose.

"Hughes, you have three seconds to get that picture away from my face before I clap my hands... one... two... thre-" the young Alchemist said, raising his mismatched hands to clap.

"Hawkeye, Ed's about to use Alchemy!" Mustang yelled.

The response was immediate.

**Bang, bang, bang, bang!**

"What have I told you Colonel?" Hawkeye growled.

"Riza, please stop shooting at my walls." Gracia's calm but stern voice echoed from the Kitchen.

"Brother, don't you even _think_ about starting a fight!" Al scolded from the living room.

"You should listen to your brother more often, Fullmetal." Mustang said smugly.

"Why you BAS-" Ed snarled.

**Bang, bang, bang!**

Another three bullets narrowly missed the Elrics head.

"There will be no foul language either, I'm I clear Colonel?" Hawkeye asked sweetly, reloading her gun.

"Y-yes ma'am." Ed stuttered.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Chapter Break up-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

-=-=-=-=-=-=short time skip-=-=-=-=

The rest of the night continued on and so did the almost fights between Ed and Mustang, if it wasn't for Hawkeye and Al another brawl would have broken out between the two Alchemists. Eventually, sometime after dinner, they began to calm down making a silent truce after the numerous bullets had been fired at their heads. Elysia was put to bed by Maes and Gracia sometime after dinner. The adults and the two teens were at the Kitchen table or the Living room, talking in a soft murmur.

Ed, Al and Mustang were discussing the possible repercussions of Al's Soul-Spilt and theory of Chimera transmutations. The books from the Library and papers were scattered around on the floor and piled in a messy arrangement on the wooden coffee table in the centre of the room. Hughes and General Hammond sat on nearby chairs, occasionally making comments or asking questions that the Alchemists left out or could be relevant to the topic. Most of the questions from General Hammond however, were about the basics of Alchemy. Those questions usually sent Ed or Al on a full out explanation that the General had trouble keeping up with.

Hawkeye and Gracia were sitting on the kitchen table, a cup of hot coffee in their hands. Riza's guns resting on the hard wood, now clean from maintenance. Black Hayate was sitting by her side, almost like a sentry. Hawkeye watched the three Alchemists, evaluating if another fight was going to start out, while talking to Gracia quietly.

"So there could be a repercussion to the Soul-Splits?" Mustang questioned.

Ed nodded. "There's no way to tell if there is a long term effect. On top of that... the Chimera Alchemy that we're looking into has never been done before. It's going to be a while until we sort this out and start on the practical Alchemy. Think you might be able to help?"

"Of course, but Are you sure it's safe for you two?" Mustang asked.

"No... A lot could go wrong in any sort Human Transmutation." Al said shaking his head.

The Flame Alchemist was about to speak or give the brothers a lecture on messing around with dangerous alchemy, when General Hammond suddenly jumped in.

"I thought that Human Transmutation was illegal." General Hammond said, breaking the Alchemists out of their conversation.

"It is, in fact that law was put in place shortly after Fuhrer Bradley came into power."Mustang said, looking at the General with his single eye sternly. "Do you know the reason it became a law?"

Hammond shook his head, seemingly unaffected by Mustang's stern tone and haunted eye. Even if the Major General could make the most hardened soldiers shudder, Hammond was not about to let his weakness show.

"It's because they didn't want Alchemists making their own personal army." Mustang said softly.

"What? I thought you said that Human Transmutation was impossible." Hammond said, recalling the previous conversation.

"Bringing people back from the dead is impossible, technically transmuting a chimera with a person is Human Transmutation, so is transmuting yourself... but these _things_ had a power of numerous Stones inside of them." Ed said, not looking from the papers.

"What _things_?" General Hammond asked.

"We called them the Immortal Army, they were basically lesser Homunculi, but were stronger and much harder to take down than humans." Al said softly.

"They had the basic human shape, but acted more like Zombies." Mustang said, his voice was quiet as if was remembering something he didn't not want to recall.

The Elrics, Hughes and Hawkeye knew what it was, the thing Mustang never wanted to remember. The Gate, the Immortal Army eventually lead Mustang and Hawkeye down to the underground where Fuhrer Bradley, the failed Fuhrers and Pride waited. The failed Fuhrers almost killed Hawkeye, cutting a deep, fatal wound on her neck. Though the Flame Alchemist put up a courageous fight, he was eventually pinned down by his hands by Wrath's swords on a Human Transmutation circle. Then getting sucked into the Gate after the very doctor, who turned the Fuhrer in to a Homunculus, activated the circle under Pride's orders.

"H-how did you defeat them?" Hammond asked, stuttering slightly at the word zombie.

"The legs, you destroy the legs and they're done for." Ed answered not looking up. The alchemists were seemingly lost in memories.

"My bullets didn't affect them, even a shot to the head. Alchemy and sword combat is the best way to take them down." Hawkeye said putting bullet rounds in her pistols.

"Then there were the Homunculi themselves." Al said, his voice quivering slightly.

It was silent for a while; Ed had gone back to taking notes and reading the text books. He was seemingly oblivious to the uncomfortable atmosphere in the room.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Hammond decided to break the quiet ambiance.

"How would you feel about joining the SGC?" the General asked Ed and Al, he was curious.

It would be the first time in history that the US made a treaty with Amestris on an Alchemist exchange. For the Amestrians, it was a good question. These Alchemists were strange; they didn't have the normal thinking pattern of normal soldiers. They over analysed things, and this made the conclusion of the subject very different from regular people.

"Permission to speak freely sir?" Ed asked Mustang and General Hammond quietly.

Mustang smiled. "Now you're asking my permission, Fullmetal? Since when did that happen? You do realise that were off duty?"

"You realise that we were meant to be off duty on the Promised Day?" Ed rebuked back, effectively shutting the Major General up.

"Permission granted, Fullmetal." Mustang murmured, defeated.

Ed and Al had been asking each other how they felt about it for a while now, and to be honest neither of the brothers knew what to think. Ever since they found out about the Stargate and the SGC's existence, it had been one big rollercoaster of emotions. They were excited about something so big that they along with Mustang's team would be a part of. The brothers were sad because they would have to leave their home country and the small family back in Risembool behind them.

And finally... they were scared. The brothers were afraid at the possibility of more Homunculi, more danger and more people getting hurt or killed. Not that Ed would ever show that fear, he usually covers it with anger or annoyance, this time it was different. It was time to let it out. Ed wasn't about to suck up the General Hammond and pretend he was excited about transferring to the SGC. He talked with Al and they were going to do things their own way.

"We don't know what to think..." Ed answered quietly, not looking up.

Al nodded, not daring to say anything, and kept his golden eyes glued to the papers on the table. Mustang had his eye glued to the floor too; he had seen too much death already, if they weren't accepted, that was alright with him it was never really his choice. It was up to the Elrics, they had a while to talk it over. It was now time to act.

General Hammond looked at the two teens with narrowed, evaluating eyes. Hughes glanced at the young Alchemists. It wasn't very often they saw a show of emotions other than hostility or the happy-go-lucky act from both the brothers. Each time Hughes, Hawkeye or Mustang had asked either of the brothers about this, they only got a sad, carefree smile. That was just the way the brothers tried to keep the burden off another's shoulders. However, the act only made the adults more concerned and irritated.

"Don't get me wrong we're really interested in the SGC, the Stargate and all..." Ed blurted out, but then stopped and his voice softened. "But... a lot of people died or hurt because of everything that happened. We know this sound selfish... But we're afraid at might happen again, if _that_ happens again. Not everyone came back alive that day. Some people came back home in a box, we didn't get to save everyone. I know we're the only few people in to world with this information about the Homunculi, the Stone, Human Transmutation and the Gate but... sometimes I wish we weren't.

"But we weren't, then another person would have taken my, Al's or Mustang's place and that may have turned out for the worse..." Ed said quickly, before stopping for a minute, regathering his thoughts. "It's dangerous, we know that. We knew the risks after we decoded Marco's notes on the Stone and after I saw the Xerxes Ruins. But getting into something so deep and dangerous again so soon..."Ed stopped.

He didn't have to continue. Neither did Al or Mustang have to say anything, they felt the same way. For the first time in a long time, Ed an Al, it felt as if they were about to get scolded at.

General Hammond looked at Mustang and the two brothers.

"You know what Colonel, I think you, and your brother, your commanding Officer and your team are the people I have been looking for. I officially invite you to transfer to the SGC." Hammond said with a small smile.

Ed and Al looked up and stared at the General with questioning golden eyes.

"The SGC needs people like you. That fear is not selfish; it's just a part of being human and a good person. You fear for others lives more than your own and that's all I need to hear." Hammond said. "Major General, Brigadier General, Colonel, Major, you people along with the others in the team will be inquired to transfer over to the SGC, along with any others you fell would be a good choice. The choice to join is yours alone."

Mustang stood up and smiled at a memory. "Either to stay put or move forward."

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Major General." Hammond said.

"Fullmetal...?" Mustang looked at the Fullmetal Alchemist.

"We all know you would be useless without us, Mustang." Ed teased, looking up at the Major General, glints of mirth and hope shone in his intelligent golden eyes.

"Funny, I could say the same about you. You are useless without me or your brother." Mustang said smugly. "Who else is going to save your butts when you're in danger?"

"At least I'm not useless in the rain." Ed growled.

"At least I don't have to worry about my arm or leg falling off." The Flame Alchemist rebuked back.

"Guys, Elysia is asleep." Al scolded, stopping the two alchemists' verbal war.

"Look at this! It a photo of Elysia, isn't she just the cutest?"Hughes jumped in.

General Hammond looked at the alchemists and the crazy Brigadier General; he knew he made the right choice. These Amestrians might be crazy, but at least their hearts are in the right place. Things were going to get interesting at the SGC.

-=-=-=-=- Chapter Break up-=-=-=

A few hours later, the brothers had fallen asleep in the soft sofa. Ed's head was tipped back resting on the wall behind the sofa. A thick book he was reading before he fell asleep covered his closed eyes. The young Alchemist was snoring lightly, his chest rising and falling with each breath, signalling the teen was sleeping soundly. His legs were limply resting on the carpeted floor, sprawled out in what looked like a somewhat comfortable position under the coffee table. Al was curled up, his head resting on Ed's metal shoulder and his feet tucked up to his small chest as if he was trying to keep in warmth.

Hughes smiled at this and placed the brother's thick red coats over the sleeping figures before removing the heavy Alchemic text book off the eldest Elric's head and eyes. Hughes marked the page the book was open at and placed it down on the coffee table.

"It never ceases to amaze me where those two can fall asleep. We were in the middle of a conversation and they just drop dead asleep." Mustang sighed, looking at the brothers with slight irritation.

"Well, Ed always says that you send him to during the briefings." Hughes teased.

Mustang glared and growled at his friend.

"I know how Fullmetal got in to the military you told me before, but how did Soul?" Hammond asked.

Mustang and Hughes looked at Hammond before looking at each other and smiling softly.

"We found out the hard way that Al can be just as stubborn as Ed." Hughes said, looking at the young Alchemist fondly. Mustang nodded, agreeing to Hughes' statement.

"So, what happened?" Hammond asked, determined not to let the topic slide.

Mustang closed his cobalt eye before recounting the report.

"About three months after the Promised Day, Fullmetal was sent on a mission alone to investigate an Alchemist whom was apparently transmuting Chimeras that had been terrorising a town in the countries southern area. What we didn't know, this Alchemist was devoted fully to the Homunculi. Not long after, we got a report from a nearby town hospital that Fullmetal had been badly hurt, and was put into a medically induced coma because of fatal injuries and a large amount of blood loss. Needless to say, Ed was lucky to be alive.

"Al was in Central at the time, and found out about Fullmetal. He approached me later that day and asked to become a State Alchemist. The town had been evacuated and civilians were not allowed anywhere near the perimeter, but State Alchemists were let in without question. I said 'No' telling him that would be the last thing Fullmetal would want. Being an Elric, he then went to the Fuhrer and asked him personally. My team and I didn't know this at the time; we thought that Al had gone home.

"The Fuhrer however agreed he gave Al a State pocket watch and the title of 'Soul Alchemist'. Fortunately the Fuhrer placed Soul under Ed's command when Fullmetal woke up. Till then, Al was to be under my command. The Fuhrer said that Al didn't need to take the exam or any sort of test, he had seen what the Alchemist was capable of on the Promised Day." Mustang said, looking at the Elric brothers with a stern navy eye.

There was a hint of guilt swimming in the Major General's eye; Hammond and Hughes had no trouble seeing this.

"Al walked straight up to that town and tore it apart. The Alchemist who transmuted the chimeras was helpless. Who knew Al had that much of a temper? That was the first time we had seen him so mad." Hughes sighed.

"Needless to say when Edward woke up three weeks later, he wasn't happy to find out Al had joined the military while he was comatose. But... if there's one thing most people know about the Elric brothers, it's that Al _always_ wins the fights." Hawkeye said, coming over from the kitchen table and standing behind the Major General.

"Sir, I think it's time that we pack up. It's getting late and we have a lot to sort out tomorrow." Hawkeye said quietly.

Mustang nodded, in a silent agreement. Then looked at the Elric brothers and debated whether to wake up Ed or Al first. Hughes saw this and jumped in.

"Don't worry those two can stay here for the night. I'm sure they could use a good night's sleep." Hughes said pointing at the Elrics.

"Right, thanks Hughes. We'll drop you off at the hotel, General." Mustang said.

They walked softly down the hallway before stopping at the front door.

"No problem. Gate forbid you and Ed starting a fight in a car."Hughes said unlocking and opening the wooden door.

Mustang gave a low growl, before Hawkeye pulled the Flame Alchemist by his ear out to the car, Hammond following closely behind.

"See you tomorrow General!"Hughes said, waving his hand.

"Hughes, I want the Elrics in my office by ten o'clock tomorrow." Mustang said loud enough for Hughes to hear from the car.

"Is that AM or PM, Roy?"Hughes teased.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK?" Mustang shouted.

_Click._

The sound of Hawkeye loading her gun sounded and the Flame Alchemist shuddered slightly.

"Please get in the car, sir. I don't want the Elric brothers to wake up."Hawkeye said as she put her gun back in its holster and opened the door to the car.

Mustang obliged very quickly, almost jumping into the back seat before pulling the set belt over his torso and placing it in with a small _click. _General Hammond followed suit, eyeing the trigger-happy Lieutenant Colonel nervously.

The last they saw before Hawkeye pulled out the driveway was Hughes turning back inside to wake up the Elric brothers.

Tomorrow would be interesting indeed.

_Chapter End..._

Phew, made it! This chapter properly does need a bit more work, but I haven't got the time right now. I haven't even begun to write the next chapter, and I have numerous assignments due during the week. And wow over 6000 words.

Sometimes the chapters might be a bit late or early, but you will live.

Ok some points on this chapter...

**Point number one.** Mustang, Hughes and Hawkeye are the only ones who know about Ed and Al's telepathic link. Hughes was the one to half work it out after Al was restored, soon after he told Mustang and Hawkeye, who confronted the brothers. It was only then that Ed spoke to mustang about it, and ended up working a few things out.

**Point number two.** Hammond asked the brothers about how they felt about the SGC as more of a test than anything else. If there's one this the SGC didn't need, it would be people who just cared about themselves. Ed saying that and Al and mustang having the same emotions, just finalised their spot into the SGC.

**Point number three. **The thing about the crazed alchemist was totally made up; it does not have anything to do with the story other than a trap for Ed and an excuse for Al to become a State Alchemist. More will be explained why the Fuhrer let Al do this in... later chapters.

These points may or may not be significant to the story; it depends on how long this fic goes for and how deep I want the plot.

(A/N)

I do NOT mean anything bad or mean to females or people with OCD, it's just Ed's rant. And FYI I am female and a few of my close friends (and death the kid) are obsessive compulsive. Please don't flame me about that, I really didn't mean it in a bad way. If you really want me to, I can take it or this fic down.

_Toka Koka I write, you review..._


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